When docking a boat or other type of watercraft, it is important to properly secure the boat so that it does not drift into the side or rear of the dock. Boats and other watercraft are secured to a dock through the use of ropes or lines, generally referred to as mooring. Typically, one end of a rope is tied to a cleat on the boat and the other end is wrapped several times around a mooring post on the dock and tied off. The knots used for docking a boat require time to tie properly, especially when more than one line is used, and are difficult for an unskilled person to tie and untie. A secure line is imperative to prevent boat damage or loss.
In an effort to eliminate or reduce the need for skilled tying and untying of knots, several devices have been proposed in the past. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,540,083 discloses a mooring cable with a throat block attached on the cable. The end of the mooring cable can be wrapped around a mooring post and locked into the throat block, forming a loop around the mooring post. The end of the cable can be quickly released from the throat block by pulling on a pin.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,200,053 discloses a mooring cinch. A rope having a looped end is placed through the hole in the mooring cinch. When the looped end of a rope is placed over a cleat, the cinch is positioned along the loop and tightened with means such as a wing nut. The tightening of the mooring cinch prevents the loop from slipping off the cleat.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,912,816 discloses a tube with an internal bore able to hold two sections of a rope loop. When the rope loop is passed through the tube, the size of the loop can be easily adjusted by sliding the tube along the rope. The rope loop is placed over a mooring post and the tube adjusted to tighten the loop around the mooring post.
U.S. Pat. App. Pub. 2001/0032576 A1 discloses an adjustable mooring line that has an elastic component for absorbing shock. The ends of the mooring line can be wrapped around a mooring post to form a loop which is adjustable through the use of buckles, straps and fastening clips.
The disadvantages with these devices are that they either require the use of a complicated device or cannot be used with different mooring lines. What is needed is a simple and portable device suitable for use on a wide variety of ropes and mooring lines that can be used to securely fix one end of a rope or mooring line to a mooring post without the use of complicated and time-consuming knots. It is also beneficial that such a device quickly release the mooring lines when leaving the dock.